the

perfect

52 Ultra-FIT
 feature

workout
for women
Whatever your body type be it pear-shaped, apple-shaped, or as lean as a
runner bean, you’ll find a workout plan tailored to your body shape,
guaranteed to maximise results from the time you spend at the gym.
Using a combination of free weights, resistance machines and cardio
sessions each plan helps you sculpt and shape your body and target problem
areas. Special tips on calorie control and healthy eating make sure you end
up feeling as good as you look.
Words: John Shepherd Photography: Ultra-Fit Images/Grant Pritchard

Perfect woman workout will:
■ Help you to identify your body type
■ Show you how to best train your
body type
■ Select the most effective resistance
training exercises to achieve your
perfect body
■ Advise you how much cardio you
need to do for your body type
■ Provide an easy to follow 4-week
workout plan you can use at your gym
■ Advise you on how to control your
calories to shape your perfect body
Train your body type
We’re all born with a genetic body type. We
might be pear-shaped, or leaner and straighter,
for example. Although it is not possible to
change our basic body type, with the right
weight training and cardio work it is possible
to change and balance our proportions.
The first step toward this is knowing
what body type you are (see table 1 below).
Table 1 What’s your body type?
Body shape Jean size
Pear 14 +
Runner Bean 10
Apple <12
When you know this you can then train it
in a way that it will best respond.
Why resistance
training works for women
You may not appreciate the benefits now,
but you will after regular resistance
training. Performing the ‘right’ exercises in
“Performing the ‘right’ exercises in the ‘right’
combination of sets and reps, for your body
type will shape and define your body and
make ‘problem areas’ a thing of the past”
the ‘right’ combination of sets and reps, for
your body type (see workouts) will shape
and define your body and make ‘problem
areas’ a thing of the past.
■ Rid yourself of saggy upper
arms with triceps dips
Top size Cup size
10-12 <B
10 A/B
<12 <C
■ Lift your butt with single leg
squats
■ Shape sexy thighs with the
inner and outer thigh machine
Build muscle to burn fat
Muscle is metabolic dynamite, it’s lean
active tissue that burns calories just by
being there (unlike fat, which is the
complete opposite)! Every 0.45Kg increase
results in an additional 35 calories being
burned. So the leaner you are the less fat
you’ll be. And don’t worry the perfect
woman resistance workouts aren’t
designed to pack on muscle like a body
builder, reps and sets are carefully
designed to shape, lift and tone and
compliment your body type.
Weight training and body weight
exercises shape and tone muscles, and
strengthen them.
These and more perfect woman shaping
resistance exercises are described in the
workout section.

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 PERFECT WOMAN WORKOUT EXERCISES
How to train your body type 1
Runner Bean
Thin types response to resistance
training will be less in comparison to the
other types. However, you could expect
a 0.5Kg gain in muscle every month.
Cardio work should be kept to a
minimum (1-2 sessions a week) so as
not to work against your resistance
shaping efforts.

Pear/Apple
With much bigger frames your bodies
will be stronger and quicker to gain
muscle. However, as you are more likely
to be carrying more body fat, you will
need to do more cardio work. Do 3-5
sessions a week. This will increase your
calorie burn, decrease your fat and
reveal your resistance training efforts.

For every 0.45Kg increase in lean

muscle, you’ll burn an additional
350 calories per week, without you
doing anything! That’s equivalent to
a 40 minute stepper workout.
Shoulders
Thin shoulders will make you look
narrow and can accentuate your
pear shape. Whilst rounded
shoulders, often caused by being
slumped over a computer all day,
will reduce your stature and
prematurely age you.
“For every 0.45Kg increase in lean muscle,
you’ll burn an additional 350 calories per
week, without you doing anything!”
sides, so that the dumbbells reach a
position level with your shoulders
2) Lower slowly back to start position
Tip: Keep your head still throughout the
movement, and maintain a slight bend at
the elbows to avoid strain.
hand close to your ears with your elbows out
and approximately in line with your ear lobes.
Action
Contract your abdominal muscles slowly
to lift your torso, 15-25cm will be enough.
Pause and lower under control.

1
Dumbbell front raise
and lateral lift combo
Targets all the major shoulder
muscles. It will improve your upper
body proportions, giving you more
width, and improve your posture.
Perform a front raise and then a lateral
lift until you complete your reps.
Tip: Perform this exercise slowly to really
Tummy target your abdominal muscles.
A flabby and protruding tummy is
more likely to be reduced by cardio
work. However, resistance
2
exercises are important as they
will improve your posture and
reduce back problems.

Start position
Stand with your feet slightly wider than
shoulder-width apart. Hold a dumbbell in
each hand by your sides with your thumbs
facing forwards. Keep your back in neutral,
that’s neither overly rounded nor arched,
and look straight ahead
2 Fit ball crunch
Targets the large muscle that
runs down the front of your torso.
Using the fit ball will result in
more muscles being involved in the
exercise, specifically the deeper
postural and stabilising muscles.

Action Start position

Front raise:
1) Lift the dumbbells in front of your body
to a position level with your shoulders
2) Lower slowly back to start position
Lateral lift:
1) Extend your arms up and out to your
Lie on your back and bring your knees in to
your chest, so that your thighs are at right
angles to the ground and your lower legs are
parallel to it and resting on top of the Fit ball
(your heels should be place on the apex of the
ball). Place the thumb and forefinger of each

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 PERFECT WOMAN WORKOUT EXERCISES
Arms
Poorly defined arms can make
the rest of your body look
weak, whatever your body type.
To give them definition you
need to target both the front
and rear muscles.
3
Body weight bench dips
Targets the muscles on the
back of your arms (the triceps) and
rear shoulders
Start position
Place the palms of your hands behind
your body close to your hips to support
your weight on the bench. Your feet
should be just beyond shoulder width-
apart on the floor, with your knees bent
to about a 90 degree angle. Keep your
back in neutral.
Action
Lower your body by bending your arms,
stop when they reach a 60-90 degree
angle to the floor. Pause and then push
back up.
Tip: Don’t lock your elbows out when
lifting to avoid strain
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4 Biceps curls
Targets the muscles on the front
of your upper arm
Start position
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart,
holding a dumbbell in each hand, with
your thumbs facing out to the sides. Keep
your back in neutral.
4
“Poorly defined arms
can make the rest of
your body look weak”
Action
Curl the dumbbells up to shoulder level.
Pause and lower under control.
Tip: Don’t swing the dumbbells, maintain
full control on the exercise. Imagine that
your elbows are pinned to your sides.
Chest
With a runner bean or pear-shaped
body type you may want to
increase your breast size. Although
it is not possible to do this through
resistance training it is possible to
strengthen the muscles that
support the breasts which can lift
them and enhance your
proportions. Larger women may
want to reduce their upper body
proportions and will need to do
more cardio work accordingly.
5
Supine dumbbell
chest flye
Targets chest and front of shoulders
Start position
Lie back on a weight training bench with
a dumbbell in each hand. Keep your feet
flat on the floor. Hold the dumbbells
directly above your shoulders (thumbs
facing toward your head) with arms
extended and elbows slightly bent.
5
Action
Lower the dumbbells outward so that they
follow a controlled arc. Stop when your upper
arms are parallel to the floor. Pause and return
the dumbbells back to the start position.
Tip: Maintain symmetry of movement
between the dumbbells and keep your
wrists in neutral alignment (don‘t bend
them inward or outward).
Butt and legs
Skinny legs will make the rest of
you look weak, whatever your body
type, whilst larger thighs and butt
will emphasise a pear-shape.
Runner beans will benefit in
particular from the following
exercise from a shaping perspective.
Larger apple shapes will need to do
more cardio to reduce fat and reveal
the firmer thighs and lifted butt
created by the exercise.
6
Supported leg, single leg
dumbbell squat
Targets all leg muscles and butt
Start position
Hold a dumbbell in each hand, thumbs facing
to the front and stand in front of a weights
bench. Lift one leg and place its foot (toes
turned under) on the bench behind you. Your
front foot should be flat on the floor.
 PERFECT WOMAN WORKOUT EXERCISES
Action
Bend your front leg to lower your body to 7 9
no more than a 90 degree angle. Pause
and then push back up. Complete your
designated number of repetitions, take
10 seconds’ recovery and swap legs.

Inner thigh machine

Action
Pull your legs together. Pause and then
control the weights away from you as you
return them to their starting position.

Outer thigh machine

Targets the muscles on the outside of
the thighs

Start position
Assume a similar position as for the above
exercise.

Start position
Stand with your toes evenly placed
supporting your weight on the foot bar of
the machine. Keep your back in neutral.
Support the machine’s pads across your
shoulders. Fix your gaze straight ahead.

Action
Extend your ankles to lift the weight and
Outer thigh machine
lower under control.

Action Tip: Lower to a comfortable position

Tip: Don’t allow your knee to travel
beyond or outside of your ankle when
lowering or lifting.
Push your legs away from you, pause
and control the weights back to the
starting position.
Tip: Perform the inner and outer thigh
exercises with control, using a ‘2 count’
below the machine’s foot bar, to avoid
potential calf and Achilles tendon strain.
Exercise order

7+8
Inner and outer
thigh machines
Nearly 90% of women, whatever
their body type, suffer from cellulite.
Cellulite is basically just fat. The
orange peel appearance can be
for the first movement and a ‘3 count’
when returning the weights to their
starting position. This latter eccentric
(muscle stretching as it contracts)
contraction will recruit more muscle
and maximise toning.
For all body types the Perfect woman
workouts alternates upper body with
lower body or trunk exercises, so that
that no one body part or muscle group
is worked consecutively. This means
that you will be able to tackle each
exercise with a high level of energy, due

reduced by cardio work, following a
healthy diet and performing weight
training exercises.
Inner thigh machine
Targets the muscles on the inside of
the thighs
Start position
Sit upright (or slightly back of upright) on
the machine, with your legs against the
machine’s pads. Hold the machine grips.
9
to the in-built recovery. This will have a
Machine standing greater stimulatory effect on muscles
heel raise and boost lean muscle and toning gains.
The calf muscles are often neglected If, for example the upper body was
in the training programmes of women.
targeted with all the upper body
However, if you want to plump them
exercises performed consecutively, then
up and give them some shape they
in all likelihood there would be a fall-off
need to be targeted. However, if you
in performance as this area’s muscles
have large (muscled) calves you may
wish to discard this exercise from your become increasingly fatigued. This
training routine or perform more reps would reduce the workout’s potential.
(15-20) with a lighter weight.

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 PERFECT WOMAN TRAINING PLANS
Each plan assumes that you have been To get the most from the perfect woman exercise should be difficult to complete, but this
resistance training for at least two resistance workouts, the last reps of each should not be at the expense of good technique.
months. If you have not then spend two
How many repetitions?
weeks training with light weights and/or
fewer reps learning correct technique. Loading Rep range Comments
Do 3 resistance workouts a week, Light 15-20 Will tone muscle and have a moderate cardio effect
leaving at least a day in between each.
Cardio train on different days where Medium 8-12 Will tone and build larger muscles
possible, or after your weights if doing in Medium/heavy 6-8 Will build larger muscles
the same workout. Warm up with 3-4
minutes of gentle cardio and perform Heavy 4-6 Will build powerful larger muscles
some functional movements, such as
Very heavy 2-4 Will build, very strong larger muscles
marching on the spot, lunges and arm
swings. Stretch as part of your cool down. Full recovery should be taken between sets regardless of body type

Lean (Runner Bean) body type RESISTANCE WORKOUTS

Exercise
Front/lateral dumbbell lift
Single leg dumbbell squat
Reps and sets and weight to lift
Week 1 3 x 10 @ medium weight, 3 x 10
@ medium weight, 3 x 15 @ light weight
Week 2 3 x 15 @ light weight, 3 x 10
@ medium weight, 3 x 12 @ medium weight
Comments
With the emphasis on medium and heavy weights you will
give your body every chance of increasing its muscle
mass, shaping and toning you in the process
For body weight exercises start with 3 x 10 reps and add
a rep or two each week

Fit ball crunch Week 3 3 x 15 @ light weight, 3 x 12

@ medium weight, 4 x 6 @ heavy weight
Supine dumbbell flye Week 4 4 x 6 @ heavy weight, 3 x 12
@ medium weight, 3 x 12 @ medium weight
Calf raise
Bench dips
Inner thigh machine
Biceps curl
Outer thigh machine
Cardio workouts
Number per week: 2 Duration: no more than 20 minutes maximum Level of effort: easy/moderate

Dietary recommendation for Runner Bean types

To give your body every chance of increasing its amount of muscle, you will need to over-eat by 300 calories four days a week (crucial
for the days you train) and maintain a balance between calories in and calories out on the other days.

Pear and Apple body types RESISTANCE WORKOUTS

Exercise
Front/lateral dumbbell lift
Single leg dumbbell squat
Fit ball crunch
Supine dumbbell flye
Calf raise
Bench dips
Inner thigh machine
Biceps curl
Outer thigh machine
Cardio workouts
Number per week: 3-5
Reps and sets and weight to lift
Week 1 3 x 15 @ light weight, 3 x 10 @
medium weight, 3 x 16 @ light weight
Week 2 3 x 16 @ light weight, 3 x 10
@ medium weight, 4 x 18 @ light weight
Week 3 3 x 18 @ light weight, 3 x 10
@ medium weight, 3 x 20 @ light weight
Week 4 4 x 15 @ light weight, 4 x 8
@ medium weight, 4 x 16 @ light weight
Duration: 15-60 minutes maximum
Comments
There is a greater emphasis on reps performed for these
body types. This will have a moderate cardio effect and will
increase calorie burning, as well as shaping and toning
muscle. However, to get the most from this training plan
you must cardio train as indicated
Increase body weight exercises as per lean body type
Level of effort: easy/moderate

Dietary advice for Pear and Apple body types

Match calories in with calories out on the days you train and under eat by 300 calories 2 days per week, on the days when you are not training.

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